Too Little, Too Late

38

"Bella, please!"

The carriage stopped completely, the silence tense enough that it could be sliced with a knife. Ibrahim counted to five in his head before he exhaled, turning to her as the doors slid open. "Not now, please. We can talk about everything and you can scream at me about whatever you want later but not now. I just –" He blew out another breath. "I just want to get through tonight as best as I can so please..."

Not wanting to see her expression softening, he walked out of the carriage and into the parking lot. She went after him. "Ibrahim, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." He hoped she didn't push it. "I'll be alright after tonight."

She put her hand on his, stopping him from opening his car door. Fighting back a tired sigh, he turned to look at her. She offered him a small smile. "I'm sorry."

"I know." He couldn't bring himself to tell her he was sorry too when he knew fully well that he wasn't.

"Where's Ayra though? She's not going?"

"She is. She's at Ibty's place. They'll be coming together."

Her eyes brightened with mischief and Ibrahim found himself hating it. "So, I can go with you instead of driving down to Nathaniel and Anneth's place so I can join the limo?"

"You'll have to still go with them though. I'm coming back with Ayra."

She smiled and let his hand go. "That's fine. Let's deal with that when we get to the event and we have to leave." She walked around the car and pulled open the passenger door, easily sliding in. "Come on, Serkan."

His chest heavy, Ibrahim pulled open his door and slid behind the wheel. A minute later, the engine was coming to life and she spoke. "You look good. I've never really seen you wear this before."

He pushed down the memory of Ayra picking it out that morning when he told her he didn't know what to wear, just because he wanted to have her in his room; just because he wanted to hold onto her for a little longer, the way he'd done all week.

"I guess it's new." It wasn't. He got it back in July, when he'd purchased Ayra's birthday dress. He put the gear in reverse and eased down on the gas pedal. "I didn't think much of what I wanted to wear. I just picked it out."

"It's really good."

"You don't look bad yourself."

"That's a lame compliment coming from you, Serkan. You usually do better than that."

He gave her a small smile. "That's all I can come up with right now. Hopefully, by the end of tonight I'll have something better."

"You hate the fact that we have to attend so badly?"

Not for the same reasons as you, he wanted to say. "You have no idea."

She laughed, reaching out to take his hand that rested between the seats. She laced their fingers. "I love you, Serkan."

His chest constricted and he simply smiled, finding himself unable to say his usual "I love you too". Keeping a small smile on her face, Bella turned the other way and stared out of the tinted window at the places they drove past. Her smile faded and she tucked her tongue inside her cheek, forcing herself to turn a blind eye to the fact that there were a lot of things that needed to be sorted between them. She told herself that they were to going to be fine, no matter what it took.

They had to be.

♣

Palm Drive saw an influx of luxurious cars that evening. Some cars were tinted, others weren't; some with covered number plates, others without. Security, as expected, was tight and every single person knew better than to not follow the standard protocols so everything ran smoothly.